Exercise

Many children with asthma become wheezy, begin to cough or have difficulty breathing when exercising. However with proper treatment there is no reason why asthma should prevent anyone from taking part in sports or leisure activities. In fact exercise is good for children with asthma. Many successful sports people have asthma - just look at some of our Asthma Ambassadors such as Republic of Ireland footballer, John O’Shea and Ireland rugby star Ronan O’Gara. In some children asthma symptoms only appear during exercise. If your asthma symptoms worsen during or after exercise, it could be a sign that your asthma is poorly controlled.

    

 

What to do

Warming up

Make sure you do some warm up exercises, for example, some stretching exercises followed by running or skipping on the spot to help build up your fitness.

Relievers

Take your usual dose of reliever inhaler about 5 to 10 minutes before you start exercise.

Important things to remember when you are exercising with asthma

If you get wheezy when you exercise, stop, rest and take extra reliever medecine. Make sure you have recovered before you start exercising again.

If you get wheezy or have difficulty breathing most of the times you exercise, you should tell your doctor or asthma nurse.

 

Swimming

Swimming is a very good form of exercise for children with asthma because the air inhaled is warm and moist, however some children with asthma may find their asthma is affected by the chlorine in swimming pools.

Watch Video on "Asthma & Swimming"

Reliever medications should be taken 15 minutes before planned exercise.

 

Indoor swimming is a great exercise for asthmatics because of the warm moist air.